A cogeneration system is a system that produces, from primary energy, two or more forms of secondary energy continuously and simultaneously. Among such cogeneration systems, systems using a fuel cell that provide high power-generating efficiency and do not emit environmentally harmful gases have recently attracted attention, and the development of such systems is in progress.
As one of this type of cogeneration systems using a fuel cell, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-168439, for example, proposes a system in which the exhaust gas from a fuel cell is burned by a burner, and the heat produced from the burner is used to heat a power generator.
Conventional cogeneration systems using a fuel cell, however, have not provided sufficient power-generating efficiency, and therefore further improvements have been desired.
The present invention has been accomplished to solve this problem; hence an object of the invention is to provide a cogeneration system using a fuel cell which offers increased power-generating efficiency.